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Democratic Leaders Avoid Criticizing Trump’s Iran War. Now Voters Will Have a Say.

Top Democrats close to AIPAC stick to criticizing Trump’s process failures — but primary candidates are calling for a referendum on the war itself.

If Democratic voters wanted party leaders to give a strong, unanimous condemnation of President Donald Trump’s war on Iran, they would probably be disappointed. Leaders of the liberal party have instead sought to criticize the process leading up to Trump’s multiday onslaught, rather than the onslaught itself.

Soon enough, however, primary elections will give voters their say on that approach.

Starting Tuesday, a series of primaries will serve as referenda on candidates who have either given ambivalent responses to the war or who have drawn past support from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobbying flagship that backed Trump’s strikes.

The first big test will come in North Carolina, where Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee-backed incumbent Rep. Valerie Foushee is under attack from challenger Nida Allam over prior ties to AIPAC.

Allam, a Durham County commissioner hoping to topple Foushee in the 4th Congressional District, chose to make the U.S. strikes on Iran the subject of her final pitch to voters in a video ad where she condemned the war.

“I have opposed these forever wars my entire career.”

“I have opposed these forever wars my entire career.”

“I will never take a dime from defense contractors or the pro-Israel lobby,” Allam said. “I have opposed these forever wars my entire career, and I hope to earn your vote to be your proudly uncompromised pro-peace leader in Washington.”

Taking heat from Allam, Foushee says she also opposes the war.

“I will go on record right now: I do not support Trump’s illegal war with Iran and will do everything I can in Congress to support War Powers Resolutions to stop it,” Foushee said on social media Saturday morning, hours after the bombs began dropping.

A super PAC affiliated with AIPAC gave Foushee crucial support during her 2022 race. With the lobbying group’s brand becoming increasingly toxic within the Democratic Party, she has sworn off support from the organization this time around — but a group tied to an AIPAC donor has nonetheless flooded the race with ads on her behalf.

The North Carolina candidates’ stances reflect the overwhelming sentiment of Democratic voters, according to a pair of polls conducted over the weekend. Only 27 percent of Americans and 7 percent of Democrats approve of the attacks, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that lined up with the results of a Washington Post survey.

Avoiding the Underlying Issue

Democratic leaders in Congress have taken a different tack. Before the strikes, they dragged their feet on forcing a vote on a war powers resolution meant to block launching strikes without congressional........

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